annang nation: building our future together, being …2 chew on. what is called annang land...
TRANSCRIPT
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Annang Nation: Building our Future Together, being
a lecture delivered by Ray Ekpu, Chief Executive
Officer of MayFive Media Limited at the 25th
anniversary of Ati Annang Foundation at Ikot
Ekpene on Wednesday August 14, 2019.
Protocols:
I wish to congratulate the leaders of Ati Annang Foundation on
its 25th anniversary celebration. In an age of partisan politics it is
difficult if not impossible for a socio-cultural organisation to
survive the slings and arrows of political jobbers and flunkeys
who would like to conscript the organization into the vortex of
partisan politics or send it to the gallows if they offer any
resistance. That Ati Annang Foundation is still there, standing on
its feet and waxing strong is a testimonial to its resilience. I thank
the leaders of the Foundation for their labour of love. I wish to
thank them also for the favour of asking me to deliver this
anniversary lecture because it has offered me the opportunity of
knowing a little more than I knew about Annang Land. In the
delivery of this lecture I will adopt a mixture of historical and
narrational approaches. I will address where we are now, where
we would or should want to be, the roadblocks on the way, how
to overcome those roadblocks planted on the way to the
promise land. I will also make some recommendations for us to
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chew on. What is called Annang Land comprises eight local
governments namely; Abak, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ikot
Ekpene, Obot Akara, Oruk Anam and Ukanafun. The group also
includes our citizens who live in the Diaspora including the
United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States of America.
The first organised attempt to bring the Annang people together
in a big tent was in 1927 when an Annang Union was formed by
a man called Udosen Obot from Ikot Ekpene. This union was the
forerunner of Ibibio State College. The story is that the land on
which Ibibio State College now called State College stands today
was donated by Mr. Udosen Obot so all of us who went to Ibibio
State College owe him a debt of gratitude. This was about 1928
when the Annang Union merged with the Ibibio State
Movement. However, the merger had its own seeds of rivalry
and when a disagreement ensued between the Ibibios and
Annangs the name was changed to Ibibio and Annang Union in
August 1953. In 1954, an association called Annang Welfare
League was formed specifically to take care of the well-being of
Annang people. The League had as its objectives, the training of
Annang youths in schools abroad, the establishment of primary
and secondary schools and the social mobilisation of Annang
people in terms of political awareness on the evils of colonialism.
But by 1927 when the Annang Union was formed, women of
Annang origin were already fully sensitized to the evils of
colonialism and it was no surprise when in 1929 at the outbreak
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of the Aba Women’s Riots, Annang women were leading from
the front. The women of Utu Etim Ekpo, Uruk Ata Ikot Isemin and
Eka Uruk Eshiet led Aba women to invade the British armouries
at Utu Etim Ekpo and Aba. They removed arms and ammunitions
and utilized them for their protest against the British colonialists’
excessive taxation of their husbands. So you can see that in
terms of the fight against the colonialists for the soul of Nigeria,
its independence and the right to protest against the
abridgement of the rights of the natives the Annang women
were in the thick of it. It can be argued that feminism was here
before Nigeria acquired its independence and it is an ironic twist
that in an era when our men and women are even better
educated, Annang women as well as other women in Nigeria are
badly treated, discriminated against and denied the
transformational benefits of gender inclusiveness, equity or
parity. However, Annang men were not wanting in the fight
against the colonialists. Around the 1920s and 1930s the people
of Ikot Afanga in present day Oruk Anam Local Government Area
formed a sophisticated terrorist organiSation, much like the Mau
Mau in Kenya which gave hell to the colonialists. The
organization called Ekpe Ikpa Ukot (Leopard feet) was a source
of torment to the colonialists who had no way of curbing the
menace of the group. When they failed to tame the human
leopards they resorted to arresting and sending to the gallows
innocent people who had nothing to do with the terror group.
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The group, indeed, made a phenomenal contribution to the
struggle for Nigeria’s independence. After independence there
seemed to be the need to have an all-embracing canopy for
Annang people and that is how Afe Annang emerged. It was a
major rallying forum that sought to speak with one resonant
voice on all matters that affected the Annang Nation and to serve
as the battle axe of the Annangs. As it was growing in strength, a
splinter group which called itself Nto Afe Annang began to haunt
the Afe Annang as an inscrutable mystery, an effort that
probably had the motive of diluting or destroying its essence. Afe
Annang is still there in its enfeebled form but it still remains the
grandfather of the Annang people, the mother hen that will let
no hawk touch its chicken. Conflict is a natural state of affairs but
people of good intention in Annangland wish that Afe Annang
can regain its vitality and become the go-to organisation that the
Annangs probably wanted it to be.
Despite this puerile rivalry it is correct to say that the Annang
people have a great past, a past that is framed by achievements
in various fields including culture, tradition, medicine and
manufacturing. First, let it be recognized that Annang people as
a race are people of integrity whose word is their bond, who
value loyalty above everything else. There are three recognised
deities in Annang land. They are the god of in-laws (Awasi Ukot),
god of grandchildren (Awasi ejejen) and the god of extended
family (Awasi iman). Most Annang people have respect for these
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three deities irrespective of whatever religion they belong to.
These constitute for them areas where an infringement can be
regarded as an abomination for which there are penalties.
The Annang people can congratulate themselves for being able
to keep their language alive. The United Nations Educational and
Scientific Organisation estimates that there are between 5000
and 7000 languages in the world. The actual figure depends on
whether it is a language or a dialect and when a dialect crosses
the boundary and becomes a language. Languages can grow and
acquire new words and meanings or they can fall into disuse and
become either endangered or dead or extinct. These can be
attributed to globalization, colonialism, neo-colonialism or
oppression of speakers of minority languages by speakers of
majority languages. The more commonly spoken languages tend
to dominate the less commonly spoken ones. The politics of
majoritarianism can be a disservice to language development
especially the language of minority tribes. Last year or so the
Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai had decreed that
all soldiers in the Nigerian Army must learn to speak the three
major languages namely; Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo in furtherance
of the long standing oppression of minorities. How can any
soldier learn and retain three languages in addition to what he
needs to learn about his core responsibility of soldiering in the
21st century? And what is talismanic about these three languages
in a country where there are an estimated 400 or so languages?
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This is part of the oppression Olympics to which minorities all
over the world have always been subjected to. You might also
remember that when Wing Commander Idongesit Nkanga was
the Governor of Akwa Ibom State (September 5, 1990 to January
2, 1992) he decreed that the state radio and television stations
should cease the broadcast of news in all other languages except
Ibibio. I took him on in Newswatch in a ferocious forensic battle
for the restoration of Annang language to the news segment of
the radio and television broadcasts. At the end of the day, the
Federal Government under General Ibrahim Babangida asked
him to return to the status quo. He had no choice but to do so.
His attempt to kill Annang language by military fiat came to grief.
In the medical field Annang people have made a mark from
ancient times. Many women particularly in the rural areas have
been delivered of babies by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs)
because of the absence of hospitals in their neighbourhoods or
lack of money to meet the high cost of child delivery in hospitals.
Today, many of these attendants are gradually being
incorporated into the formal medical care structure and their
skills upgraded for safe motherhood. Traditional bone setters
are also prominent in the medical field especially where
orthopaedic surgeons are hard to find or expensive to engage.
Citizens of Ikot Edet and Abiakpo have established a well-
deserved reputation for their bone healing expertise. Our people
are also known for Abreaction Therapy. This involves various
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forms of treatment such as dancing, confession of sins and evils
done to others. Rituals are performed before a native doctor and
the patient’s relatives. When the relatives indicate that the
patient is forgiven some psychological relief occurs. This is the
equivalent of western style psychotherapy.
There are also a number of important herbal remedies which are
indigenous to Annang Land. Some of them are:
a. Native chalk – when applied on the skin it provides a
soothing effect. It can also cure some skin ailments such as
measles and prickly heat.
b. Palm kernel oil can be used as a cream, antidote to poison
and evil forces and high fever.
c. Oil extract from a python is a well-known massaging cream
which traditional bonesetters use. It is also an antidote to
poison when ingested.
d. Honey is used for healing wounds because of its antiseptic
properties. It is also an energy giver.
e. African ginger (Ntuen Ibok) is useful for the treatment of
sore throat and cough.
f. Fresh Cucumber – is useful for the treatment of eye
problems.
g. Esim Egiet: It is useful for stomach ache.
h. Nton Oku – It is said to be useful for the treatment of
infection in babies.
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i. Garlic – for reducing high cholesterol and high blood
pressure.
j. Chameleon is used (Akuwe) for treating whooping cough.
k. Redwood chalk – (iduot) – for skin care.
l. Etong Ekpu – for treating indigestion in children.
Since Annang land is located in the Rain Forest belt it has an
abundance of flora and fauna, which are a rich source of raw
materials for traditional medicine. Our vegetation also has in its
womb a lot of solid and liquid minerals. They include clay which
is found in commercial quantities in Ikot Ekpat, Abak Itenge, Ikot
Otu and Urua Akpan. This has been exploited by the inhabitants
of those places for pot-making.
a. Salt deposits are present at Nna Enin and Abanga villages.
b. Soft sand, gravel and granite are found in the rivers and
seabeds of Okon, Ikot Osurua, Ukpom, Ikot Okoro, Midim,
Abak and Ikot Osukpong. These are mainly used in the
building industry.
c. Coal is found in Ikot Ukpong and Ikot Idem in Obot Akara
LGA.
d. Crude oil and gas: There are several oil wells discovered
since the late 50s and capped at Ikot Etuk Udo, Ibagwa,
Inen, Eka Ediene, Utu Ikot Iwara, Ikot Inyang Udo, Mkpok
Eto, Ikot Osukpong and Ikot Osute.
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e. Native gin called kaikai is brewed from palm wine in such
places as Etim Ekpo, Ika, Ukanafun and Oruk Anam LGAs.
This activity was prohibited by the colonial masters in order for
it not to compete with their own gin imported into the country
at the time. There is a huge raffia craft industry in Ikot Ekpene.
The craftsmen have been able to produce a wide range of
products such as hats, belts, shoes, handbags, lawyers’s wigs,
toys and furnishings. With the abundance of a wide variety of
raw materials there is an immense opportunity for investors in
oil palm, cassava, clay, arts and crafts, woodwork, carvings, raffia
products, timber and livestock.
We must accept that there is a high degree of dynamism in
culture. Some of those ancient practices are, happily, fading
away. Female genital mutilation is still a lingering problem
especially in the rural settings and more especially among the
illiterate population. We must fight the menace to a standstill
because it is a needless exercise. However, happily the fattening
room concept is almost completely extinct. There are two types
of girls fattening, the full blown one which is called Mbobo.
Mbobo is an elaborate means of preparing a girl for possible
marriage by fattening her up through excessive feeding because
the idea of beauty in ancient days was a well-rounded female
with appropriate bulges at the right places. She was always kept
in seclusion and groomed by experienced women. She would
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also receive tuition on home management, housekeeping and
activities of the “other room.” Her body would be decorated
with beautiful designs. She would probably stay in the fattening
room for a period of about six months. The lower grade fattening
of the girls was called ngwogwo. This was an emergency, crash
programme lasting not more than three months whereby the girl
is prepared so that if a man turns up to seek her hand in marriage
she would be ready. In most parts of Annang land the two
variants of girl grooming have faded out. This is because the
concept of beauty that emphasized bigness is out and that of
slimness is in. Besides, the Annang world has woken up to the
reality that there is a serious health hazard in being so big as to
be considered obese.
Let us situate Annang Land in the context of Akwa Ibom State
and Nigeria and in the context of a globalized world. This will
enable us to fathom on how we will fare, or should fare in the
days ahead. In economic terms Nigeria is facing strong
headwinds. Its primary product, crude oil is receiving low
patronage. Its price is coming down because new oil fields are
being discovered in Africa, Houston and other parts of the world.
Besides, Shale oil has come into the picture and China is trying to
ensure that it counts in the energy mix. Nigeria earned $95
billion from crude oil exports in 2012, $90 billion in 2013, $77.5
billion in 2014, $42 billion in 2015. It has declined further since
then. But meanwhile despite the decline in income our
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expenditure profile is high, unreasonably high. We now spend
70% of our revenue on debt servicing, leaving us with a
miserable 30% for capital and recurrent expenditure. And we
have an expensive war we are fighting in the North East and
other forms of insecurity to deal with in other parts of the
country. Yet we have not developed the political will to cut our
coat according to our cloth. The United States with a population
of 316 million and GDP of $17, 328 (30 times that of Nigeria) has
15 ministers (which are called Secretaries) India has 24 ministers,
United Kingdom 17 while Nigeria has 43. It also has a National
Assembly that is the world’s most reckless spender. Look at
these: South Korea has a population of about 50 million but 79,
000 megawatts of electricity, Nigeria with a population of 200
million has between 3000 and 4000 megawatts of electricity. We
are an oil producing, oil exporting country yet we import refined
petroleum products for our consumption. We have a refining
capacity of 650, 000 barrels from our four refineries eventhough
they are all working at far less than the installed capacity. Algeria
has a refining capacity of 650, 000 bpd, consumes 418, 000 bpd
and exports 210, 000 pbd of refined petroleum products. Kuwait
with a population of about 4 million has a refining capacity of
963, 000 pbd, refines almost 1 million per day, consumes 345,
000 pbd and exports about 680, 000 pbd. Nigeria does not refine
enough for domestic consumption. Rather, it imports refined
petroleum products at presumably padded costs. This increases
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the fragility of our financial situation. By the 2017 Fragile States
Index, Nigeria is listed as the world’s 13th least stable country. All
of these statistics indicate that Nigeria is punching below its
weight. We are afflicted by the resource curse syndrome and we
don’t seem to know how to get out of it. Every conversation in
Nigeria today is seasoned with skepticism. The incubus of fear
has been planted in us. We are worried not just about our
present but also about our future. There are no more low
hanging fruits for us to pluck. We need a tall ladder to reach the
high hanging fruits. As things stand now there is not much that
our governments, state or federal can really do for us as a people
because neither government is in fine fettle today. So as a people
we must look for ways of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.
Ati Annang Foundation has shown us the way already. It has
made commendable achievements in five areas namely;
scholarship awards, backpack project for primary school
children, football project, wellness project and Annang Language
Development project. It has six aims and objectives which
constitute its raison d’ tre. Those objectives can be called the
Annang Dream. Let me put this dream in a capsule thus: “To
achieve an appreciable state of unity, progress, prosperity and
well-being for Annang men, women and children in all spheres
of human endeavour.” That is, roughly speaking, what our dream
should be in the days to come. But we must pursue this dream
with our eyes wide open because there are considerable hurdles
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on our way, the type of hurdles that all minorities all over the
world encounter when they try to assert their micro nationalism.
Ethnic prejudices are very strong in Nigeria. In the 70s there were
many Annang doctors working in the public sector of Cross River
State, all of them very well qualified. Then a petition was written
to the government alleging that the medical field in the state was
dominated unmeritoriously by the Annangs. A commission of
inquiry was set up by the Government of Cross River State. That
Committee discovered that all of the Annang doctors were very
well qualified and that they got to where they were by merit. At
that time I was the Editor of the Nigerian Chronicle. My
experience on the Editor’s chair might be useful here. I was one
of seven people who applied from within to contest for the
positions of Editor of the Sunday Chronicle and Nigerian
Chronicle. The Editor of Daily Times, Prince Tony Momoh was
brought from Lagos to come and conduct a written practical test
for the applicants. The next day all seven of us were invited for
interview at the Public Service Commission’s office. The
members of the commission invited Prince Momoh the examiner
and Chief Efiong Essien the General Manager of the Cross River
State Newspaper Corporation to join the interview panel. When
it was my turn the Chairman of the panel told me that I came
first in the written test but asked why I chose to apply for the
position of Editor, Sunday Chronicle instead of the Nigerian
Chronicle that was higher in rank. I told the panel that I did so
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because we were informed that the Ministry of Information
wanted Mr. Martin Usenekong who was editing the paper in an
acting capacity to retain the job. The Chairman said that was not
the case. He asked me the difference in terms of content
between a daily newspaper and a Sunday newspaper, I told him.
He asked if I could edit the daily newspaper if offered the job. I
answered in the affirmative. They offered me the job that I did
not apply for. Those were the days when merit was appreciated.
An Annang man, a minority man, who had no one to lobby for
him got a job on the strength of his own ability. But wait for it.
That was the pleasant part of the story. Mr. Martin Usenekong,
a happy go lucky man, graciously congratulated me and went
back to the Ministry of Information from whence he came. I took
the Editor’s chair and my ordeal began. The Ibibios who
dominated the production department were unhappy that their
man, Mr. Usenekong, did not retain the job. They gave me hell.
Every night I practically slept in the office to ensure that there
was no trouble planted for me in the paper. I had to eventually
report the situation in which I was to the General Manager, Chief
Efiong Essien, himself an Ibibio man who believed in merit. He
had to read the Riot Act to the production staff before I received
their cooperation. Another story. It was the practice in those
days to pay the outside correspondents of our newspaper their
transport allowance monthly. When this allowance was not paid
for months I reasoned that the reporters may not be able to send
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stories to me. I kept pestering the Chief Accountant of the
Chronicle to pay my reporters. The stock answer I always got was
“no money.” So one day I went to his office when he was about
to close. When I got in I locked the office and put the key in my
pocket. I told him: if you don’t pay my reporters today both of us
will sleep in this office today. He thought it was a joke but it
wasn’t. I meant it. He decided to call the General Manager who
answered his distress call. When he came he asked what the
problem was. I told him. He assured me that the reporters would
be paid the next day. They were indeed paid. So where did the
money suddenly come from? It just means that sometimes you
need to use an unorthodox method to survive in this system.
From then onwards my staff were promptly paid. Without the
ajaguda style that I used they would have made me look like an
incompetent Editor.
When Professor Moses Akpanudo was pushing for a licence for
Obong University in Etim Ekpo LGA the officials of the National
Universities Commission (NUC) were scheduled to go to Obong
for an inspection. I was informed that some people from Akwa
Ibom State were trying to block the visit by telling the would be
inspectors that the university’s site was just thick bush and there
was no point going there. I had to call my contact at the NUC. I
told him that if the team does not go there it will not know how
thick the bush is. They came and approved a licence for the
university. Even on the eve of the presentation of the licence in
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Abuja I was told there was a last ditch effort to halt it. I alerted
my reporters and photographers in Abuja who covered the
presentation. We gave it good play in Newswatch. These stories
ought to indicate to us that there are several road blocks,
manned and unmanned, that can impede the progress of
Annang land and we must therefore gird our loins. We need a
big tent approach, a united, undivided approach to make things
hum for us. We can learn from some global examples and draw
wisdom from their successes. We can learn from Israeli’s
entrepreneurial spirit, the never say die philosophy which has
enabled that country to stay on top of the survival game. Israel
with a population of 7.1 million people, almost no natural
resources, enemies on every border is a country in a perpetual
state of war but has more start-up companies than Japan, India,
Korea, Canada and the United States. Israel’s adversity driven
culture, high level of education and technology foster a unique
combination of innovative and entrepreneurial intensity. Its
neighbours Palestine and Syria are in the same region. Israel is
able to overcome the hazards of the hostile vegetation by
adopting drip irrigation which has transformed its agriculture
tremendously but the Arabs have not been able to do the same.
They are still stuck in the mud. In Uyo all the big supermarkets,
except Nteps, are owned by the Igbos. So what have our people
been doing? A few years ago I wanted to buy some bags of rice
at Christmas for my relations. The only supermarket in Ukanafun
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that I could find more than one bag of rice to buy was owned by
an Igbo man, right in the heart of Ukanafun village. So what have
our people been doing? Their investment is largely in Tokunbo
cars, mini sized petrol stations, food-is-ready restaurants and
some other nyama nyama businesses. Let us look at two
countries Mexico and United States. The town of Nogales is
divided by a fence. On the north side is the United States and on
the south side Mexico. The inhabitants on the northern side face
lower crime rates, live longer and earn three times as much as
their northern neighbours. How did two places that share an
ethnic background, a geographical location and a climate get to
be so drastically different in achievements? Daron Acemoghu
and James A. Robinson in their book, Why Nations Fail have
explained why. The authors say that to prosper citizens need
inclusive institutions which create virtuous circles of innovation,
economic expansion and more widely held wealth. This is based
on 15 years of research that the authors did on the subject. The
Mexico/United States scenario applies to Syria/Palestine on the
one hand and Israel on the other. So does it apply to Ibos and
Akwa Ibomites. Since I was born my people have always bought
building materials from Aba. I am 71 now and my people are still
buying building materials from Aba and Aba is not buying
anything from us. Today the native attire called senator which
many Akwa Ibomites wear are made by Igbos in Aba. They come
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here to take the measurements, go back and sew them and bring
to Akwa Ibomites. So what have we learnt?
Now let’s talk about China, a country whose products Nigerians
used to deride in the past. China used to be seen as the
slumbering Red giant that produced inferior goods. Now China’s
economy is the second in the world and the speculation is that
by 2025 it may overtake America as the king of the global
economy. Today China has the biggest, tallest, longest and
fastest of almost everything you can think of. What is responsible
for its success? High quality education in science and technology
plus its thrift philosophy. China prescribes that to become rich
its citizens must work hard and must save 25% of their income.
In Annangland we have not made as much achievement as we
possibly could have made because of some impediments outside
of the institutional ones I had earlier mentioned. These
impediments affect the development of Annang resources. They
include the lack of research into our indigenous technology,
concealment of scientific information among Annang people,
undocumented achievements of Annang scientists, the
disparaging of the Ndom Annang concept, poor dissemination of
information.
Let me now make some recommendations on the way forward
to a possibly glorious future:
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- Ensure that there is peace in Annangland. Please settle
boundary disputes in time and fairly for without peace
there can no development. The disruption of life by touts in
Ukanafun and Etim Ekpo recently will set us back by many
kilometres.
- We must put education, quality education, on the first page
of our shopping list. In particular we must pay attention,
special attention, preferential attention, to STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematic) in our
scholarship awards. We have two functioning private
universities in Annangland. There are two more in the
pipeline. Whatever any one of us can do to reduce their
birth pains let him or her do.
- Annang people do not have a major national news medium
but I learn that we do have some local media that serve our
needs locally. We need a bigger voice, preferably a national
newspaper of quality with appropriate social media
convergence quality. This newspaper should be our battle
axe. If we did not have Newswatch by our side our language
would have been slaughtered even if temporarily.
- We must encourage Annang sons and daughters who have
made some inventions or who have special skills to show
them to the world. This can be done through a yearly forum
for Annang inventors and a talent hunt activity.
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- There are no free consultancy centres where our youths can
seek help on education, career choice, scholarship facilities
and employment opportunities. We can publish a brochure
that can guide our young people on such matters.
- Our youths need value reorientation on time management,
cell phone management mannerisms and knowledge
management. For many of them their mannerisms on these
issues are awful and cannot lead to success in their careers
or in life generally.
- We must encourage our people to have fewer children than
our grandparents had so that they can get good quality
education which will translate into good quality
employment and good quality life. The times are hard. They
will be harder. The statistics say so.
- Our people must be encouraged to accept, with pleasure,
children of any sex, male or female, that God favours them
with. The discrimination against female children is
unacceptable and even foolish. In many of our communities
female children take better care of their parents. President
Bill Clinton has only one child, a female. President Barack
Obama has two children, both of them females. Having
female children did not prevent them from getting to the
top. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, 38
is the world’s youngest female leader. Her sex did not
prevent her from getting to the top. Nor did it prevent Dr.
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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from becoming the Managing Director
of the World Bank. And by the way, it is the men only who
can produce the Y chromosome that leads to the
conception of a male child so the men have no right to
harass their wives who deliver baby girls.
- Eat healthy and if you allow yourself to get fat you are
looking for trouble because when you climb the stairs you
will be puffing and huffing like a whooping cough patient.
Eat fruits and vegetables and nuts. There are fruit markets
everywhere today. Don’t just sell the fruits, eat them too. If
you can help it, don’t smoke. One stick of cigarette,
according to experts, takes away seven minutes of your life.
- Show a business-like approach to everything you do
because time lost is lost forever. It cannot be regained.
Show disdain for African time. I notice that every event in
Akwa Ibom State, wedding, burial etc takes a full day, so it
is impossible to do more than one important thing in a day.
That is not the road to success.
- There is an evolution of bad manners by our young people.
They call you Chairman whether you are a chairman or not.
They query you. “How was your night?” As if that is their
business. These are all advanced forms of begging or
solicitation. Please can we keep this bullcrap far away from
Annangland?
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- On May 29, 2015, I was at the inaugural ball of the newly
elected Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom
Emmanuel. As he entered the Le Meridian Hotel venue of
the ball, we all stood up to greet the freshly minted
Governor. He gave me a big hug which I appreciated
because I was not close to him. The following day some
young men came to my hotel to see me each of them asking
me to make them either SA or PA or Police Orderly to the
new Governor. I asked them why they thought I had such
power. They said it was because of the way the Governor
gave me a passionate hug. I was stunned at the
interpretative idiocy in the statement and why anyone
would think that an innocuous hug was the passport to a
job in a political setting.
- Develop a positive attitude towards life and don’t let the
naysayers decide your future. Some years ago, I was with a
group of Ibibio friends with whom I always had a
conversation anytime I was in Uyo. On this day our
discussion drifted to the governance of Akwa Ibom State.
Obong Victor Attah was the Governor at the time. One of
my friends there said magisterially: “An Annang man can
never be the Governor of this State.” I countered that it
would happen eventhough I did not know how. We
exchanged hot words and I left the group in anger. A few
years later Chief Godswill Akpabio became the Governor. I
23
was happy that my friend lived long enough to see a
Governor of Annang extraction. Much, I suspect, to his
dismay. Godswill told me that as soon as he became
Governor someone from Uyo came to him with a small
parcel of sand and asked him to accept it and keep in his
custody so that the deities in Uyo will protect him until he
ends his tenure. Godswill said he told him that he is actually
the landlord in Akwa Ibom and he controls everything
including the deities of Uyo. The man went back dismayed.
- There is a feeling in Nigeria that Akwa Ibom people are
docile and obedient to a fault that they would never
demonstrate for or against anything. I think this is largely
true. Until 1974 I never heard of any demonstration
mounted by the oil producing people of Akwa Ibom against
Mobil despite the environmental degradation and the lack
of amenities in the oil bearing communities. My editor at
the Chronicle Mr. Nelson Etukudo assigned me when I was
Features Editor to go to Eket and write about the condition
of the people. I found that there was no water, no
electricity, no roads or bridges. The people lived a desolate
life which I described as Hell. On the opposite side was the
Mobil Quarters which had water, electricity, well-
manicured lawns and champagne. I called it Heaven. After
the publication of my articles I went back to Eket on my own
and met Chief Ndarake. I told him I wanted to organise the
24
youths to demonstrate against Mobil. After some hesitation
he agreed. The demonstration lasted a week. After that
Mobil started doing development projects in those oil
bearing territories. Many years later Chief Ndarake met me
and told me that if I had not done what I did Mobil would
have continued to treat them badly. He offered me a
chieftaincy title and I told him that I am not a good
chieftaincy title candidate. The lesson here is that if you
don’t fight for what you want you may never get it in
Nigeria. So don’t be afraid to fight if and when the occasion
calls for it.
- Are we thinking of establishing an Annang museum of
antiquities where we can gather and preserve some of the
admirable relics of our past? We should think about it.
- To our young people I say engage, during your free time, in
volunteer work. Volunteerism is good for you and for
society. For admission purposes in some higher institutions
abroad evidence of community work or volunteerism is
required. Being a helper to someone or to your community
has a lot of therapeutic value.
- Don’t adopt the easy manner of the entitled. Nobody owes
you a living. You owe yourself one and if you work hard you
can get there. Be kind to people because it costs you
nothing to be kind. There are immense benefits of kindness.
25
- Don’t believe prosperity preachers who tell you that if you
pray and pay your tithes you will be fine. No, you will not be
fine. There is nothing like manna from heaven. You need to
work hard, very, very hard and pray for God to help you.
God is in the details, in the painstaking approach to your
work or your studies. Don’t leave all the work to God, do
your own and God will help you. You have heard the
expression “trust in God but get a good equipment.” Any
society that believes that anything and everything that
happens is an Act of God is fatalistic. Fatalism deprives
people of the use of their intelligence. God did not save the
Abuja preacher who went out at 5am to do what
Pentecostalists call “morning cry.” God expected her to use
her head, to know that Abuja has a coterie of muslim
fundamentalists and she could be in danger in some areas
of the city at 5am. It is silly for anyone to go out preaching
at such an unholy hour because anyone who is out on the
street at that time has something to do. He is not going out
because he wants to hear a sermon.
- There is too much violence in Nigeria today so play safe.
Watch your front and watch your back. If you don’t live you
can’t achieve your goals.
Finally, if we work hard as a group, and pay attention to details
we may go further than we think. Even if we do not circle the
globe we will still be a happy bunch of people.
26
Thank you.
Ray Ekpu
References
1. Fishman, Ted C, *2005) China Inc. How the Rise of the next
superpower challenges America and the world, Simon &
Schuster.
2. Investment opportunities, a publication of Akwa Ibom State
Government.
3. Umoh, Imeh S. (2011) Annang Culture: Way of Life in
Annang Nation and Moments in time, Newswatch Books
Limited.
4. Udondata, Joseph (edited) (2002) Anaan Cultural
Development Vol. 1, Joe Graph Publications.
5. At a glance, Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, A Publication of
Akwa Ibom State Government.
6. Porter, Michael E. (1990) The Competitive Advantage of
Nations, The Free Press.
7. Wallace, Mike (2008) (edited) 50 years from today, Thomas
Nelson.
8. Senor, Dan and Singer, Saul (2009) Start-up Nation, The
Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, Hachette Book Group.
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9. Acemoglu, Daron and Robinson, James A. (2012) Why
Nations Fail, The Origin of Power, Prosperity and Poverty,
Crown Publishers.
10. Petters, Sunday W, Iwok, Edet R and Uya, Okon E (1994)
edited, Akwa Ibom, The Land of Promise, a compendium,
Gabumo Publishing Company Limited.